James Franklin reportedly headed to Penn State
It’s a rough week for Vanderbilt athletics. Yesterday, the basketball team lost their starting point guard to suspension, and now, it seems the man who turned the football program around is headed for higher ground. CBS’ Bruce Feldman is reporting that James Franklin is expected to be the next head coach at Penn State. If true, Franklin will replace Bill O’Brien, who left Penn State to coach the Houston Texans.
Franklin took the Dores to three straight bowl games in three years, with a 24-15 record. Under his hand, Vandy climbed out of the SEC cellar to relevancy, pulling in top recruiting classes and invigorating an otherwise non-existent fan base. Franklin has a 3-0 record against Kentucky, including a 40-0 shutout in Lexington in 2012.
It will be interesting to see where the Vandy program goes now, and whether or not the Cats can capitalize on the transition period, especially in recruiting. Lloyd Tubman, a 4-star DE from Louisville, is a particularly appealing target who will take an official visit to UK on January 17. Read more about him and the other Vanderbilt commits that could flip to Kentucky in Chris Fisher’s CatsPause.com Weekly Recruiting Roundup.
Somewhere in Louisville, Bobby Petrino’s eyes turned back down I-65.
23 Comments for James Franklin reportedly headed to Penn State
Great hire.
We have another Yahtzee for Stoops!! 4 star S Marcus Walker!!!!
2015
This was posted yesterday on this site. Great news none the less.
I dont remember seeing it yesterday, saw it on ESPN earlier. But yes, great news.
What I wouldn’t give for Bobby to have not ACTUALLY signed the paperwork and Vandy to call
I would like to see their DT – Michael Sawyer, from Nashville flip to the Cats…
That’s where I am while I’m looking down I-65.
They have 3 – 4 star DB’s too… Let’s get on the phone Mark!
Test
I wonder if they have a “Clay Travis” filter that makes my comment require moderation. Ha! Too funny!
Franklin leaves the SEC for Penn State. Alabama’s OC left for the same position at Michigan. Auburn loses to Florida State. Alabama loses to Oklahoma. Texas A&M and Missouri (Big12 schools) continue to have a great deal of success.
Maybe the SEC isn’t all that it’s hyped up to be…
Dude, it’s Vandy. Did you see those crowds, or lack there off, he had to deal with while having historic success at Vandy? Of course he’s going to Penn State. That’s not a reflection on the SEC, its a reflection of being successful at a small academic school with virtually no fan base. Bowl record speaks for itself, the SEC is just fine.
Bowl records since the SEC championship streak started:
SEC 49-25; Pac 10/12: 28-24; Big 10 21-40; Big 12 32-30; ACC 28-39
When the SEC plays teams like Rice, Duke, Iowa, and Houston in bowl games, it’s no wonder they have such a good record.
They also tend to play most of their games near on or after New Year’s unlike a lot of the other conferences, and had 7 BCS championships in a row. Tell me, who do you root for, and I can dissect it very easily.
I tell you what I’ll do for you Wow. You tell me who you root for. I’ll give you a list of how they did in bowl games since the SEC streak started. I’ll let you know how their conference did. Then, I’ll even give you a list of all of the teams they played in two categories, wins and losses, and you can compare that to the SEC. I have a feeling how this is going to turn out.
Seems like a great coach and wish him the best. My only “beef” is him bitching about UGA running up the score on him and then he pulls that last minute sh*t on UK.
He owed some people some “favors”… and Vandy needed to cover the spread on that game to pay for said “favors.”
Rumors in Nashville are rampant that Franklin was instrumental in initially trying to cover up the rape that have four of his players awaiting trial. Should be the proper fit for Penn State.
Good. I can’t stand that bald-headed prick. Now I have another reason to hate Penn State.
I respect the SEC for their dominance in football. Well, the SEC Alabama, Auburn, Florida and Louisiana State. But the other schools? Come on, man! Vandy had a nice little run with Franklin but Penn State is trying to get by it’s ugly past and who could blame them? South Carolina was nonexistent before the old ball coach got there, Texas A&M had a once in every ten year quarterback but no BCS bowls, Tennessee has been awful for six or seven years, Mizzou comes over from the “defenseless” Big 12 and nearly plays for a title, Georgia was bad this year (I don’t want to hear about injuries b/c it’s football and everyone gets hurt), UF lost to an FCS school this year, the two Mississippi schools? Please don’t make me laugh. Kentucky should stick with basketball and baseball because football is NOT a sport that you can rag on any other conference about. Oh and Arkansas was horrible this year too.
Didn’t he say he was never going to leave Vandy, and has a big buyout on his contract?